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Wednesday, July 31, 2013

I hope you are having a good day. I can't believe it's August already. It seems like summer is already winding down. My daughter has already ordered her books for her next term at college, and I just paid my son's registration fee for the upcoming school year. I can't believe he goes back on the 13th!! Pretty soon it will be just me and the dog again!Paper Sweeties is celebrating their 1 year birthday this month and Debbie has all sorts of festivities planned. You'll want to stop by on Saturday and get more details as well as join us for a extra special blog hop! If you are a fan of Paper Sweeties you need to check out the sketch challenge featured on the Paper Sweeties Blog. There is a new challenge every month so you get lots of time to play - and YES!! there are prizes to be had!Here's the sketch for August. Remember that the shapes can represent anything you like - a circle does not have to be a circle. I replaced the three circles with some buttons and a pretty layered butterfly. Yes I guess I am still in my "orange phase". I'm not ready to let go of summer just yet ! I used a border punch for the scalloped edge, and stamped the sentiment directly on the patterned paper. I added some trims - the crochet lace, button twine, and layered accents to add some texture and dimension. I thought it would be fun to mix up the colors a little and added a touch of pink under the butterfly. It seemed to pop more than ivory or yellow (yes I did try all three! - sometimes that's just how it goes!)

Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy your summer and make it last as long as you can!!

I have two posts today - Serendipity Stamps is having a new release blog hop - (please scroll down) there's some candy to be had!!Welcome to the 12 Kits of Holidays!. To refresh your memory the 12 Kits is a group of 12 designers / paper crafting friends. We each take turns hosting the group - making a "kit" of paper crafting supplies. On the last day of the month we reveal what we all made with the supplies we were given. Sometimes our projects look similar and other times not so much. It's always fun to see how someone used a particular product that seemed "tricky" that perhaps another member couldn't figure out what to do with. We all have our own style - ranging from CAS to Fancy Pants (HAHA!! - don't look at me!!! Only one bow here!! Does that count?) Tracey McNeely has been really busy starting up a new blog for our little group called "The 12 Kits of Occasions" so you can follow our posts and see our creations all in one place if you have interest. There's some candy to be had here as well!!This month our hostess was the sweet and talented Christina Maclaren from Sea Glass Papercrafts. And wow what a wonderful bunch of goodies for us this time. PERFECTLY stamped images from WPlus9, gold sparkly twine, enamel dots and sequins and a rainbow of pretty patterned papers from My Mind's Eye. Oh and how could I forget .. GOLD EMBOSSED SENTIMENTS???? I can't imagine how many hours Christina put into making this wonderful kit for us! THANK YOU!!! Oh and the tricky thing that I didn't use this time? The ribbon!!! I know? Like "What the Heck?" Right?I'm going to keep this short because I know you want to see what the other ladies made and I have 5 projects to share here!

Celebrate

Special

Seize The Cupcake

Fortune

Star Cake

Here's links to the rest of the group - hop on over and give them a shout!!

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Serendipity Stamps has just released 4 new stamps for fall / winter! To celebrate the design team is having a blog hop. Just a sneak peek at the new stamps - and a chance to show you some wonderful creations made with them. If you're blog hopping with the Serendipity Stamps design team you should have come here from Anya's blog. If you'd like to start at the beginning of the hop you can get a complete list here. I made two projects today, the first is the "Snowman with Birds". Isn't he just the sweetest? I love the snowmen stamps because you can use them all winter - not just for holiday cards. I colored my little guy up with copics and layered him on a scalloped oval frame on a single layer of patterned paper.

My second card features the new Christmas Tree image. It's really fun and whimsical with swirly snow drifts and a little sway in the branches. It was really easy and fun to color too!

I double matted a frame and placed it over the colored up image. I added a little glitter to give that snow some sparkle.

My last card features the new "I Just Wanted To Say" stamp. This one is really easy to add to a background of stamped sentiments for a quick and easy one layer card.

Like what you see? Be sure to leave a comment - one random commenter will receive a complete set of these cling rubber stamps. You have until 12 pm EST August 4 to leave a comment. The winner will be announced on August 5 on Mary's blog.

Monday, July 29, 2013

If you've been a fan of Waltzingmouse Stamps for while you will remember the Sketch Challenge every Saturday. I've been missing them too. It was always a great opportunity to see different ways to use your Waltzingmouse Stamps. There was also a Blog Party on the 17th of every month featuring a different theme. Claire has been trying to spice things up a bit and give us a chance to have some fun with the newly released stamps. How often do you purchase a new set of stamps an wait for an excuse to use them? Now there's no putting it off! It's time to get inky my friends! We're kicking off the very first Pajama Party today!! If you are a follower of Waltzingmouse you should have gotten an email giving you the details of the Pajama Party. Instructions were also posted on the Waltzingmouse Makes blog. If you didn't see the memo - NO WORRIES! you can get all the details here - it''s not too late!! I love the retro badge and the concept of staying up all night with my girlfriends just hanging out and having fun, stamping away, listening to music, and getting caught up!Here's your chance to get inky with those newly released stamps and possibly win some blog candy, or a chance to be guest designer for the next party!! You have 24 hours to link up a new creation in the following categories... Tickle Me Silly, You're A Doll, and In the Background. If you didn't have time to get something made - and are in a pinch there is a sketch challenge - we're calling a "bedtime story" to dream on. You get one week to create and link up your design here. Here's the very first Bedtime Story! Easy Peasy right? Here's what I made using the new You're a Doll stamp set.

I hope you find some time to play - I'm looking forward to seeing some old friends, and making some new ones at the Pajama Party!

I finally got to sit down and start looking at some of the pictures my husband took at the Boy Scout Jamboree. My family is heavy into scouting. My husband is Scoutmaster, I'm the Treasurer, and my son is an Eagle Scout. He turns 18 this year and was offered an opportunity to work the event as a Security officer. This could mean anything from traffic control, first response to an incident, or just making the rounds on patrol. This Jamboree was the very first one held at the new facility called the Summit in West Virginia. I thought I'd share some of them with you. First is a birds eye view from the highest point in the camp. Just look at all those tents!!

There were all sorts of events scheduled including a concert from 3 Doors Down! Just look at how many people showed up!!

During his "off hours" he got to try some of the activities that were available to all the attendees including white water rafting, shooting, and this cool water obstacle course...Here's him ziplining.

And one really special moment when he was working a VIP event - he got to meet Mike Rowe who was promoting his new show coming out this fall called Profoundly Disconnected. He was kind enough to sign a hat too! Mike is an Eagle Scout too - so it was great to see him spend time with the scouts!

I don't know if they'll go back next year, but I know this trip will hold lots of memories for my guys! Thanks for having a look!

Today is my very first post as a Poppy Stamps Design Team Member. We each take turns updating the Poppy Stamps blog- it gets updated up to 2 times daily so there is always something new to see and great ways to use those Poppy Stamps and Dies. You can meet the design team and find my post here. Memory Box is the parent company of Poppy Stamps. They have lots of beautiful dies that are easy to mix and match to make wonderful scenes.I made this card using the Poppy Stamps Serene Bird. I wanted to keep it fun and whimsical so I cut the die from pattern paper. I embellished it with a mix of solid and pattern die cuts and a sprinkle of pearls. To make the scalloped corner I used the roof of the Madison House Set, and the leaves are from the Memory Box Sonora Rose.

Hi I'm Jeanne!

A Kept Life

When I left my full time career job my husband started calling me his "kept wife". The name of my blog is a play on that expression, because now I capture moments in photographs, and create in color in my "kept life". I hope you enjoy - thanks for stopping by!